Manchin gets veteran Dem challenger

Former West Virginia Secretary of State Ken Hechler, a nonagenarian Democrat who has held office in the state on and off since 1959, has filed to run in his party’s Senate primary against Gov. Joe Manchin.

The West Virginia secretary of state’s office confirmed that Hechler filed the appropriate paperwork by fax and paid the $1,740 fee to enter the special election race for the late Sen. Robert Byrd’s (D-W.Va.) seat.

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Hechler said he’s not running “against anybody,” but rather to raise awareness about mountaintop removal, form of surface mining.

“It prompted me to give people an opportunity not to vote for me, but rather to vote against mountaintop removal,” he said in a phone interview.

At 95, Hechler is three years old than Byrd was at the time of his death on June 28.

West Virginia Democratic Party Chairman Larry Puccio said he had no advance notice of Hechler’s intention to run. “The Democrat Party will be neutral through the primary and we will support our candidate that is the nominee,” said Puccio, a former aide to Manchin.

Hechler said he does not plan to raise money for his bid.

“I’m used to financing my own campaigns. I hate to ask people for money,” he said. “I’m going to campaign for the issue, not for myself.”

Hechler served in Congress from 1959 until 1977, and then held office as secretary of state for 16 years beginning in the mid-1980s. He mounted an unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 2000 and lost a comeback bid for secretary of state in 2004.

Unlike the more conservative Manchin, Hechler hails from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. In recent years, he has been an active advocate for campaign finance reform and coal mine safety, and was arrested last summer while protesting at a coal mining site.

Just last month, Hechler voiced strong opposition to one of his own party’s congressional candidates, Democratic state Sen. Mike Oliverio, after Oliverio ousted Rep. Alan Mollohan in a May primary. Hechler and Oliverio faced off in the 2004 election for secretary of state.

Another Democrat, Sheirl Fletcher, also filed Wednesday to run in the Democratic primary. A former Republican, Fletcher served in the state House for two terms and received 14 percent of the vote when she challenged Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) in the 2008 Democratic primary.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that Hechler has held office on and off since 1958. He won his first elected office in 1958 and has held office on and off since 1959.